But that is not deterring Unilever, the consumer products giant. Unilever, which sells hair-care products under names like Dove, Finesse, Nexxus, Suave, TRESemmé and VO5, is introducing another hair-care brand in the United States.

The brand, called Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy, is already sold in 42 countries. Unilever plans to spend $250 million in the next two years to advertise, market and promote to American consumers 21 varieties of Clear shampoos and conditioners in three lines, aimed at women, men and African-American women.

The campaign, which starts this month, includes elements like online video clips and social media. There are three Facebook fan pages, one for each line, and a Twitter feed. There will also be television, print and online ads, as well as events in stores, samplings and a public relations effort.

In many countries, Clear is sold as a dandruff treatment, on par with the Head & Shoulders brand sold by the Unilever rival Procter & Gamble. The American version of Clear has a different formulation and only one of the 11 varieties in the women’s line is anti-dandruff. (The men’s line, called Clear Men Scalp Therapy, is all devoted to fighting dandruff.)

The model and television personality Heidi Klum is the face — and hair — of the Clear women’s line in the introductory campaign, which carries the theme “Feed scalp. Feed beauty.” The ad campaign is being created by Lowe & Partners in London, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, and its American agency, Deutsch in New York. Another Interpublic agency, Weber Shandwick, is handling public relations.

Clear represents the second time in six years that Unilever has tried to extend to the United States a hair-care brand that it sells successfully overseas. That previous effort, involving a brand named Sunsilk, flopped, even with a reintroduction in 2008, and Sunsilk is no longer available in American stores.

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There were “lessons learned” from the demise of Sunsilk in the United States, said Gina Boswell, executive vice president for personal care at the Unilever North America unit of Unilever in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

“The strength of the insight” about consumers’ hair-care needs, and “the strength of the science” behind the products are paramount, she said.

“I often think, does the world need yet another hair-care brand?” Ms. Boswell said. The answer, in this instance, is yes, she added, because “70 million Americans have scalp concerns” and Clear offers product technology that she described as “revolutionary.”

There are a couple of other reasons for the arrival of Clear onto American store shelves. One is that hair-care products, and other personal-care products like skin lotions and deodorants, are “a growth engine for global Unilever,” Ms. Boswell said. Last year the personal-care category grew to become Unilever’s largest. (The company also sells food products, detergents and oral-care products.)

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Heidi Klum will be the face of Unilever’s campaign to introduce the Clear brand of hair-care products to American consumers.

The other reason is that the hair-care category enjoys a distinction from most others in marketing: Consumers are more willing to try new products and switch brands rather than make rote purchases of familiar favorites.

“This is a category where women are always looking for another way, a better way, to get the look they want,” said David Rubin, brand-building director for United States hair care at Unilever North America. “The quest to get that is never-ending.”

The other side of that coin is that if the quest is seemingly never satisfied, consumers may be skeptical about a new brand’s claims.

“It’s really important that the whole package delivers,” Mr. Rubin said, referring to the Clear brand premise that “a well-nourished scalp is the foundation for beautiful hair.”

“The products are really great,” he added, “and when you use them, they’ll do what they say they’ll do.”

In the introductory commercial, Ms. Klum declares, “For years, we’ve been searching for the foundation for strong, beautiful hair,” then tells viewers the answer is “a well-nourished scalp.” That will come, she says, courtesy of Clear, which delivers “stronger, more beautiful hair in just seven days.” Those points are reiterated in the print ads, which also feature Ms. Klum.

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Too often, such a sales angle “feels like marketing-speak,” said Helen Bell, chief operating officer at Lowe & Partners, but “this is a very different story we’re telling, telling women they need to feed their scalp.”

“Scalp is skin, after all,” she added, and “what we’re trying to do is stop consumers in their tracks” and prod them to “pause, engage and think again” about hair-care purchases.

There was “a huge amount of testing, a huge amount of research” at Unilever and Lowe to determine “the right way to bring this proposition to the U.S.,” Ms. Bell said. That included hiring Ms. Klum because she could offer “a lot of cut-through,” which means her appearances in the ads would cut through the category clutter.

And cluttered the category is, with P. & G. brands like Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Herbal Essences and Aussie; L’Oréal brands like Vive and Garnier Fructis; John Frieda, from Kao Brands; and the numerous brands that Unilever already markets.

“Obviously, Clear is coming into a very crowded market,” Ms. Bell said, but “this is a brand that has a strong difference.”